NEW DELHI: In an all-Chinese women's singles final, Wang Shixian and Li Xuerui engaged in energy-sapping rallies. The result was a high-octane match as the lead changed hands frequently.

Wang Shixian is on fire since winning All England last month

Wang Shixian is on fire since winning All England last month

Li had opened up a slim 4-2 lead early on first set but soon Wang took early lead to move up 14-10 in the first game. Li opened up a slender lead of 18-16 with the help of her accurate half smashes and smashes and reached 20-18 after grabbing two more points.

Shixian saved one and at 19-20, luck too favored the 24-year-old as Li's shuttle kissed the net and fell inside to allow the All England champion draw parity. Though Xuerui fought back to hold two game points at 20-18, she made errors at crucial points. Wang went on to gain a game point and converted it with a smash.

Li Xuerui came back strongly early in the second set and led 11-7 at the interval, but Shixian once again clawed her way back into the contest and drew level at 13-13, when Li's back hand flick went long. From there on both the players conceded leads several times.

At 18-18, a long return from Xuerui pushed Wang ahead. The World No 1 followed it up with two net errors to lose the game and the match.

However, Li's unforced errors came back to haunt her as she hit long and then one of her returns got buried at the nets as Shixian enjoyed two-match point advantage.

A smash went wide from Shixian to allow Li save a match point but once again Li netted the shuttle as Shixian pumped her fist in the air in celebration.

On the men's doubles, the Danish pair of Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen, seeded second, kept the Chinese at bay as they bounced back from a game down to outwit third seeds Xiaolong Liu and Zihan Qiu 17-21 21-15 21-15 in a match that lasted for an hour and six minutes.